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It's a Season of Upsets, Redemption and Parity in College Hockey: Puck Drop

Your daily briefing on what's going on in college hockey, everything from the assists on the ice to the Zamboni.
Christopher Walsh|
UMD senior defensemanJoey Pierce (right) makes a play against Minnesota's Erik Pahlsson on Oct. 25, 2025. The Bulldogs won 4-1.
UMD senior defensemanJoey Pierce (right) makes a play against Minnesota's Erik Pahlsson on Oct. 25, 2025. The Bulldogs won 4-1. | Kelly Hagenson/University of Minnesota
  1. Puck Drop: Sunday, October 26, 2025
  2. Saturday's Games
  3. Sunday's Schedule
  4. Did You Notice?
  5. This Date in Hockey History:
  6. Hockey Quote of the Day
  7. We'll Leave You With This ...

Saturday had a redemption feel to it in college hockey as numerous teams that had been on the wrong end of an upset the night before bounced back to notch wins. Or in one case, a team coming off a big win essentially walked into a brick wall on the road: No. 7 Denver at Northeastern.

Hours after posting an impressive 7-3 win at Boston College, the Pioneers couldn't get anything past junior goaltender Lawson Zacher, who recorded his first shutout for the Huskies during a 1-0 victory at Matthews Arena.

His team was outshot 35-14, while freshman Amine Hajibi scored the only goal of the game in the second period, executing a give-and-go with sophomore Griffin Erdman and lifting the backhand shot over freshman goaltender Quentin Miller.

Parity has become the word of men’s college hockey season this far, and for good reason. Out of the top 10 in this week's rankings, only No1. Michigan State and No. 5 Penn State made it through the weekend unblemished.

On Friday, No. 4 Boston University, No. 6 Quinnipiac, No. 8 North Dakota, No. 10 Maine, No. 12 Minnesota and No. 14 Ohio State all lost to either lower-ranked teams, on unranked foes. By Saturday night, 12 of the top 14 had taken a loss, with No. 12 Minnesota getting swept at home by No. 18 Minnesota Duluth, and No. 15 Providence had a tie at St. Thomas.

Omaha got into the mix when sophomore Myles Hilman scored with 11:31 left and and the Mavericks added two more to earn a split with UMass at Baxter Arena, 5-2. The Minutemen had won Friday's opener 5-4 after scoring with 58 seconds left.

"You can tell these guys are getting more comfortable," Omaha coach Mike Gabinet said. "I think for the first time, some of the guys looked confident out there."

What have we learned a nearly month into the 2025-26 season, as conference play cranks up across the nation net week? That there's a lot more parity in college hockey than anyone thought or expected.

Puck Drop: Sunday, October 26, 2025

Games between ranked opponents are bolded. All times ET.

Saturday's Games

MEN
Atlantic Hockey
Holy Cross 5, Army 1
RIT 7, Air Force 3        
Bentley 3, Canisius 0

CCHA
Bowling Green 3, Lake Superior 2
Michigan Tech 4, Ferris State 2
Bemidji State 3, Augustana 2

Hockey East
No. 4 Boston University 3, No. 11 Connecticut 1

Non-Conference
Mass.-Lowell 4, Mercyhurst 3
No. 14 Ohio State 3, Sacred Heart 0
Robert Morris 2, Notre Dame 2 (OT/SO)  
No. 5 Penn State 4, Stonehill 2 
No. 1 Michigan State 6, Northern Michigan 2
St. Cloud State, 5, Alaska-Anchorage 1
No. 17 Wisconsin 4, Alaska 1
No. 20 Minnesota State 2, RPI 1
No. 8 North Dakota 1, Clarkson 0
No. 10 Maine 3, Colgate 2 (OT)
Long Island 5, Merrimack 2
No. 6 Quinnipiac 2, New Hampshire 0
Northeastern 1, No. 7 Denver 0
No. 18 Minnesota-Duluth 4, No. 12 Minnesota 1 
Omaha 5, No. 13 Massachusetts 2
No. 15 Providence7, St. Thomas 4
Miami 5, Lindenwood 3 (OT)

Exhibition
No. 19 Cornell 5, U.S. Under-18 4
Princeton 2, Simon Fraser 0
St. Lawrence 3, Toronto 2

WOMEN
Sacred Heart 6, Saint Michael’s 0
Boston College 2, Merrimack 1
No. 5 Penn State 5, Lindenwood 0
UConn 4, Mercyhurst 3
Robert Morris 5, Delaware 0
No. 13 St. Thomas 5, Providence 1
No. 1 Wisconsin 4, Minnesota State 0
No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 11 St. Cloud State 2
No. 3 Minnesota 3, No. 4 Minnesota -Duluth 2
No. 5 Cornell 5, Dartmouth 0
Brown 1, No. 7 Quinnipiac 0
No. 9 Colgate 5, Harvard 0
No. 10 Clarkson 7, RPI 1
St. Lawrence 3, Union 2
Franklin Pierce 3, Vermont 1
RIT 4, Syracuse 1
No. 13 Yale 4, Princeton 3

Sunday's Schedule

MEN
Exhibition
Norwich at Dartmouth, 3 p.m.

WOMEN
Holy Cross at Post, 1:30 p.m.
Minnesota State at No. 1Wisconsin, 3 p.m.

Did You Notice?

• Abbey Murphy's game-winner was her 116th career goal, which moved ahead of Hannah Brandt and into second all-time in Minnesota women's history. She had scored earlier in the 3-2 victory as well, as the Gophers swept UMD in a No. 3 vs. No. 4 weekend series.

• Notable hockey commitments from this past week included left wing Jake Crawford to Bowling Green; defenseman Nicklas Nelson to UConn (2028); defenseman Landon Pickersgill to Lake Superior State (2028) ; and defenseman Nolan Stevenson to St. Cloud State (2026). Army landed commitments from right wing Jaden Sikura and defenseman Sam Schulte for 2026.

• The Pittsburgh Penguins placed former U.S. National Developmental Program Team defenseman Caleb Jones on injured reserve with a lower body injury. He's expected to be out roughly two weeks.

• Former UMass defenseman: Kraken's Brandon Montour Honoring Brother's Battle with ALS

This Date in Hockey History:

October 26, 1898: Hall of Fame right wing Harry Oliver was born in Selkirk, Manitoba.

October 26, 1950: UMD left wing Walt Ledingham was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan.

October 26, 1956: Northeastern defenseman Jim Walsh was born in Norfolk, Va.

October 26, 1974: The U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame’s second class after opening in 1973 was a big one, with Virgil Johnson, William Moe, Victor Des Jardins, Douglas Everett, John Garrison, Clifford Purpur, Raymond Chaisson, coaches John, Kelley and Victor Heyliger, and referee William Chadwick.

October 26, 1977: Former Denver goaltender Pete LePresti had to stop just 16 shots to notch his fourth career shutout as the Minnesota North Stars stopped visiting Boston 3-0.

October 26, 1978: Holy Cross left wing Patrick Rissmiller was born in Belmont, Mass.

October 26. 1983: St. Lawrence defenseman Drew Bagnall was born in Oakbank, Ontario.

October 26, 1983: Former North Dakota right wing Dave Christian notched his first goal for Washington as the Capitals won in New Jersey, 2-0.

October 26, 1992: Boston University defenseman Adam Clendening was born in Niagara Falls, N.Y.

October 26, 1995: Former Wisconsin defenseman’s game-winning goal in the 5-4 victory for the Ottawa Senators against the Los Angeles Kings was a memorable one as it was from his own blue line with 3:21 remaining in regulation.

October 26, 2006: Former Michigan State goaltender Ryan Miller made 29 saves as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the New York Islanders 3-0 to start the season 10-0-0 to tie an NHL record for best start to a season. 

October 26, 2019: The Herb Brooks statue was unveiled outside of St. Cloud State University Herb Brooks arena.

October 26, 2011: Mark Johnson, Bob Pulford and Tony Rossi were named the winners of the 2011 Lester Patrick Award, for service to hockey in the United States.

October 26, 1997: Former Boston University left wing Keith Tkachuk scored his 200th NHL goal and Jeremy Roenick netted two goals for No. 300 as the Phoenix Coyotes pummeled the Buffalo Sabres 6-1. 

Hockey Quote of the Day

"There are too many one-hour players. They're waiting for one hour of indoor ice when they could use the natural ice God has given them for five or six hours"
John Mariucci

We'll Leave You With This ...

Former Boston College and Michigan defenseman:

Published
Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites . He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 27 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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